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A62

September 25 • 2008

iN

sion was to be top secret because the
and fix up old ships and recruit crews.
British had declared such immigration
There was the wealthy industrialist
illegal and created a blockade to stop
to sign the checks, the New Orleans
the effort.
Jew with connections in the Central
Murray Greenfield — "Greeny,' as
American shipping industry who
the survivors would quickly nickname managed to bribe the right people in
him — had just been discharged
Honduras and Panama to get permis-
from three years in the U.S. Merchant
sion to sail ships with their country's
Marine. Others had finished tours of
flags, and the Jewish volunteers who
duty in the Navy, fighting in Europe or agreed to work only for pocket money
against the Japanese in the Pacific.
to buy cigarettes.
"What an idea;' Greenfield, 82, a
Most of these young men had some
native of Long Island, N.Y., said he
experience at sea, but others had been
remembered thinking. "I was just
infantrymen, paratroopers and pilots.
discharged and here they were looking Veterans of the Pacific theater and the
for guys who knew how to sail."
Battle of the Bulge, again they were
Greenfield, who hosted the reunion
heading into uncertain waters.
in Israel last year, went on to co-author
Greenfield pulled out a map and
a book on the subject titled The Jews'
traced the route from which the
Secret Fleet. He told his mother that
Hatikvah came — all 13 stops. It set
he would not be going to college as
sail in Miami, went to places such as
planned that fall, but was going to do
Charleston and Baltimore for repairs,
something for the Jewish people.
and eventually refueled in the Azores
It was a secret; he could not say
Islands off the coast of Portugal. From
where he was going or for how long.
there the ship sailed to Italy, where the
The news of the Nazi genocide was
passengers secretly boarded.
still fresh — horrible reports of death
The ship never did reach the shores
camps and gassings. Greenfield's
of Palestine. A British destroyer pulled
mother stroked the arm of her son and up alongside about a week into its
gave her blessing.
journey and issued the standard warn-
Harold Katz, a former U.S. Navy
ing: "Your voyage is illegal, your ship is
officer who spent three years in the
un-seaworthy. In the name of human-
Pacific, also decided to join the effort.
ity, surrender!'
A first-year student at Harvard Law
Passengers in the next 14 months
School at the time, he was so enthusi-
would live in Cyprus at a hot and
astic about the journey that he man-
crowded displaced persons camp.
aged to convince a classmate who was
Those who had been locked away in
Irish Catholic to join him.
concentration camps again found
Katz went on to become a trial law-
themselves behind barbed wire.
yer in Boston, but the memories of the
But in Cyprus, at least there were
Hatikvah and his part in history even- moments of joy — and many mar-
tually brought him back to Israel as an riages. Among the newlyweds were
immigrant in the early 1970s.
Reuven and Hedva Gil, survivors from
"You don't always know what will be Poland who had met in Italy awaiting
a turning point in your life. You realize the Hatikvah. They shared their first
it only later on;' said Katz, 86. "When
kiss on its deck.
you do, you see how it fits in with the
"We could not resist;' said Reuven,
rest of your life. This was a watershed,
81, a sheepish smile creeping across
a transformative experience."
his face. "Maybe it was the moonlight,
Katz and Greenfield would sail
the sea or maybe our youth!'
on a hulking and aging Canadian
By the time Hatikvah's passengers
ice-breaker, one of 10 ships a group
finally landed in Haifa, the Jewish state
of American Jews bought for the
had been declared and Israel's War of
operation to bring Jewish refugees to
Independence was raging.
Palestine from Europe.
Greenfield never went back to live in
The details of the operation were
New York. He settled in Israel, where
worked out through a thick cloud
he worked in business and publishing.
of cigarette smoke on the top floor
He also established the Association for
of a building on East 60th Street in
Americans and Canadians in Israel.
Manhattan, high above the din of
Greenfield smiled as he listened
music at the famous club below, the
to Fela Shapira, one of the survivors
Copacabana.
he helped bring to Israel, recount her
A mix of businesspeople, Zionist
memories.
activists and representatives of the
"We were proud to have Jewish
Jewish community in Palestine hun-
sailors," said Shapira, 81. "We did not
kered down to figure out how to buy
know such a thing even existed!'

❑

